Earth-boring tools for forming wellbores in subterranean formations may include cutting elements secured to a body. For example, a fixed-cutter earth-boring rotary drill bit (“drag bit”) may include cutting elements fixedly attached to a bit body thereof. As another example, a roller cone earth-boring rotary drill bit may include cutting elements secured to cones mounted on bearing pins extending from legs of a bit body. Other examples of earth-boring tools utilizing cutting elements include, but are not limited to, core bits, bi-center bits, eccentric bits, hybrid bits (e.g., rolling components in combination with fixed cutting elements), reamers, and casing milling tools.
A cutting element used in an earth-boring tool often includes a supporting substrate and a cutting table. The cutting table may comprise a volume of superabrasive material, such as a volume of polycrystalline diamond (“PCD”) material, on or over the supporting substrate. One or more surfaces of the cutting table act as a cutting face of the cutting element. During a drilling operation, one or more portions of the cutting face are pressed into a subterranean formation. As the earth-boring tool moves (e.g., rotates) relative to the subterranean formation, the cutting table drags across surfaces of the subterranean formation and the cutting face removes (e.g., shears, cuts, gouges, crushes, etc.) a portion of formation material.
It is often necessary for the cutting table of one or more cutting elements attached to a body of an earth-boring tool to be oriented and/or aligned in a particular manner to facilitate desired interaction between the cutting table and surfaces of the subterranean formation during use and operation of an earth-boring tool as well as, in some instances, desired interaction between the cutting element and another cutting element at the same or adjacent radial location from a centerline of the earth-boring tool. The cutting table may, for example, exhibit a non-planar, asymmetric cutting face that requires a particular orientation relative to a rotational path traveled by the cutting element in order to effectively engage the subterranean formation. Unfortunately, conventional methods of orienting and/or aligning features (e.g., a non-planar, asymmetric cutting face) of a cutting table can be inconsistent, and/or can require the use of additional features (e.g., alignment features, such as bumps, holes, grooves, etc.), marks, and/or tools that can be difficult to effectively form and/or employ. In addition, even if the features of the cutting table are initially provided with desired orientations and/or alignments, the geometric configurations of conventional cutting elements are often insufficient to avoid disorientation and/or misalignment of the features of the cutting table during use and operation of the earth-boring tool.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have cutting elements, earth-boring tools (e.g., rotary drill bits), and methods of forming and using the cutting elements and the earth-boring tools facilitating enhanced cutting efficiency and prolonged operational life during drilling operations as compared to conventional cutting elements, conventional earth-boring tools, and conventional methods of forming and using the conventional cutting elements and the conventional earth-boring tools.